In certain agricultural applications, such as the growing of hybrid seed corn, it is necessary to destroy male corn rows after their pollen has been transferred to the female rows of corn. The destruction of the male rows must occur prior to the harvest of the female rows or the quality of hybrid seed may be jeopardized. Machines heretofore used to perform the task of male row destruction were merely adapted self-propelled sprayer systems having an original or main purpose of spreading fertilizer, herbicides, or pesticides on fields. Generally, adapting such machines to perform row destroying requires an operator to first remove a large front mounted sprayer boom structure, hydraulic hoses and chemical hoses from an agricultural vehicle. Second, the operator attaches a similar front mounted structure, incorporating a chopping mechanism, to the agricultural vehicle, ensuring all the hydraulic hoses are properly connected.
Agricultural vehicle operators generally experience steering difficulties with the adapted sprayer machine since the front mounted chopping structure operates as a rigid vehicle axle which does not facilitate turning. Additionally, operators commonly add weights to the front end of the agricultural vehicle, adding even more difficulty and labor to the adaptation process. Generally, removing the large front mounted sprayer boom structure, attaching the front mounted row destroyer, removing the front mounted row destroyer, and replacing the large front mounted sprayer boom structure is laborious, time-consuming and expensive.